Basket



(No Model.)

T B. JOHNSON.

BASKET.

Patented June 14, 1898.

llllllllll e R Inventor:

flbobJozman,

Witnesses;

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

TALBOT B, JOHNSON, OF VEEDERSBURG, INDIANA.

BASKET.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 605,675, dated June 14, 1898.

l Application filed January 27, 1898. Serial No. 668,124. (No model.)

,To all whom t may concern:

` Be it known that I, TALBQT B. JOHNSON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Veedersburg, in the county of Fountain and State of Indiana,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Baskets; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to the class of baskets that are composed of built-up parts, as stave baskets; and it consists in a basket of new and novel construction, in the form and character of the various parts, and in the combination thereof, being adapted to utilize otherwise waste material at factories, as will bel more .fully described hereinafter and claimed.

In the operation of` barrel, stave, or hoop factories large quantities of material go to waste on account of under-sized pieces of wood or pieces cutoff in trimming, and it is one of my objects to reclaim vthis waste in a useful way by employing it inV the construction of baskets.

A further object is to provide a basket for handling bulky or heavy materialwhich shall be strong, light, durable, and cheaply constructed of pieces of wood'of small dimensions, hence employing to the best advantage the wood stock of a factory without the usual loss due to waste.

These objects are attained in my invention, which may,furthermore,be adapted to be used as measures for grain, vegetables, coal, or the like.

Referring t0 the drawings, Figure l represents an elevation of my basket to which my bail is attached; Fig. 2, a central vertical sectional view; Fig. 3, atop plan view; Fig. 4, a fragmentary section of an upper part to which my side handle is attached; Fig, a detail of the handle; Fig. 6, afragmentary view of a bottom plan; Fig. 7, a front of a portion of a stave; Fig. S, an end view of a stave; Fig. 9,altransverse sectional view of the lapped edges of two staves; and Fig. lO, an end view of two lapped staves, showing the lapped edges as compressed under the hoops.

,In the drawings, A designates the. basket .fourth or one and one-half inches wide, and

run through a suitable machine,by which they are dressed smooth and formed half-round, having a straight side J, which is for the inner side of the baskets, and the opposite semicircular side K for the outside, the edges N and P being parallel and thin. They are then cut into suitable lengths adapted to the various sizes of baskets tobe formed. Y

The bottom B is made up in the usual way and preferably has matched or tongue-andgroove joints, the'circular edge being left as thick as the central portion to provide ample space to which to nail the staves and hoops. At suitable points in the edge are slight grooves to receive the draftrods E. Y

The hoops are made in the usual manner andform and, together with the staves and bail, are steamed and the whole assembled in the customary Amanner by using a former. One edge of a stave overlaps the edge of the adjoining stave,while its opposite edge is overlapped by the edge of the adjoining stave at that side, and so on, uniformly around the body, which is preferably circular. As I preferably form the body, the top is larger than the bottom, in which case the staves at the bottom overlap slightly more than they do at the top. The staves being steamed the fiber is readily compressed, so that while the lappedV edges would appear somewhat as shown in Fig. 9, the edge N forcing the edge P inward before being hooped, the edges are forced to assume the close and compact joint R, (shown in Fig. 10,) which is` retained after drying under vthe pressure of the hoops. I usually employ at the top an outside hoop ce and an inside hoop e and a narrow finishingpiece of hoop f, set in between the other two and above theL ends of the staves, and-.at the bottom an outside hoop b and also an inside hoop h, the latter reinforcing the bottom.

In order to thoroughly brace and stay the body and provide that the strain when lifting a load in the basket shall be so distributed as to avoid unequal stress upon a small portion,

IOO

which causes rackingj I apply draft-rods E, composed of preferably galvanized-iron wire of suitable diameter. Two pieces to a basket are used. rI`he central portion of each piece is suitably bent, so as to draw downward against the top edge of the basket. If a bail is applied, the wire is passed through an eye in the eye-plate ll forming the lower end and binding the two pieces of hoop together of which the bail C is formed. The rod E is then twisted or bent to form loops I and a short horizontal part m at each side. The two ends are then bent down divergently along the inside of the staves and behind the hoop c, the ends passing through the bottom 13 and are bent over to form a hook over the hoop lz. It desired, I dispense with the bail and provide two handles D, having a wooden cover or grip d, in which case the rod E is formed with a loop or ring n, turned at each end of the handle and bearing against the top of the basket.

The bail C preferably has a wire binder G stretched over the outside and secured thereto by small elench -staples The ends of the binder have a hook entering a hole in the plate Il. The bail drops onto the top edge of basket and is of the same radius.

Cleneh-nails are used throughout where practicable, and it is obvious that with the thorough binding and bracing against direct as well as torsional strains this basket is of great utility and possesses novel features and advantages and may be produced at a miniinuln cost.

llaving thus described my invention,what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. Abaskcthavingits body formed ofstaves set vertically and an inset bottom secured thereto, said staves being each composed of aI parallel strip having thin and flexible edges and each stave overlapping at one edge the adjacent edge of the adjoining stave and being overlapped at its opposite edge by the adjacent edge of the adjoining stave, hoops binding and securing said staves together, draft-rods engaging the bottom of said basket and drawing against the top hoops thereof, and asuitable bail or handles attached to said draft-rods, substantially as shown and described.

2. A basket composed of staves set vertically and each stave comprising a strip having parallel edges and rendered thin and iiexible by being dressed down at the outside, said edges overlapping adjacent edges so that each stave has one edge overlapped and one edge overlapping adjacent edges, a solid bottom secured inside somewhat above the bottom of the staves, hoops binding said staves together and the bottom thereto, and draft-rods drawing against the top of said basket and against the bottom and set angularly so that they diverge from the top downward and engage the bottom at points approximate] y equidistant, substantially as shown and described.

In a basket, the combination ot the body formed of the staves F havingthe straight inner side .I and the curved outer side l and edges N P, one edge overlapping the other, the bottom B having grooves at the periphery, the draft-rods .E drawing against said bottom and against thc top of said body, the loop I in said rods above said body, the bindinghoops, and the bail C provided with the binder G and having the plates II engaging the loop in said draft-rods, substantially as shown and described.

In testimony whereof I atix my signature in presence ottwo witnesses.

TALBOT l. .IOHNSUN lVitnesses:

ELTON B. ELLIOTT, I'IHAMER J. WALKER. 

